


i'll keep you safe

by doctorsimmons



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Death, Gen, philinda if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-07-16 20:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7283314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctorsimmons/pseuds/doctorsimmons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mothers protect their children. Melinda May never did have any children of her own, but Jemma, Fitz, and Daisy might as well be, and she protects them fiercely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i'll keep you safe

**Author's Note:**

> Another angsty thing I wrote. I'm a sucker for motherly characters protecting the characters who are like children to them. Title from I'll Keep You Safe, by Sleeping at Last.

It was a dangerous mission. A reconnaissance team had discovered a Hydra lab that specialized in research of Inhumans, and the mission required the expertise of Jemma Simmons. They’d be acquiring samples, equipment, anything else they found, and rescuing imprisoned Inhumans, if they found any. Jemma usually accompanied the team, staying back on Zephyr One, but this time, she’d be in the thick of the action. 

When Coulson called one last mission briefing to ask who would be Simmons’ lookout while she collected data and samples, May immediately volunteered for the job. “I’ll do it. I’m not going to let Hydra hurt her again,” she said insistingly. What she didn’t say out loud was that the British scientist was like a daughter to her, and isn’t it a mother’s duty to protect their daughter?

Despite the danger of the mission, things had been going well. Daisy and Lincoln had rescued the Inhumans Hydra had been experimenting on and secured them on the Quinjet, receiving only minor injuries in the process. Jemma, however, was still collecting data. Having downloaded as much data as she could to the portable drives she’d brought, she was now looking at blood samples, printouts of heart rate data, and other various medical stats, filling her backpack with as many as she could. May stood lookout a few feet away, covering Jemma while she worked.

Naturally, something had to go wrong. May looked away for a second, and when she looked back, she saw Jemma, happily absorbed in her work and completely oblivious to the Hydra soldier about to take her out with a knife.

“SIMMONS, LOOK OUT!” May stepped forward to push Jemma out of the way, ending up in front of her as the soldier is going to stab her. He stabs May in the stomach and runs away.

“May? May,” Jemma shouts, grabbing bandages from the nearest cabinet. Into her comm, she says, “May’s been stabbed. She needs medical immediately or she’ll bleed out! I’m doing everything I can.” She quickly folds the bandages and puts pressure on the wound, waiting for what feels like the longest, most agonizing twenty seconds of her life before she hears footsteps just outside the lab door. Daisy sprints in, Lincoln right on her heels, and together, the three agents carry May out of the building as quickly as they can walk without jostling her too much. The second they’re safely on Zephyr One, Bobbi hurries up to them with a stretcher and an oxygen mask. They lay May down on the stretcher and place the oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. Silently, the two biochemists sit work, Jemma trying to staunch the flow of blood from May’s abdomen while Bobbi passes bandages over to her.

“If we don’t get back to the base soon, we’ll lose her,” Jemma exclaims, panicked. “She’s lost about as much blood as someone her size can lose and survive.”

May, who’s slowly been losing consciousness, nudges Jemma’s arm. “Don’t blame yourself for this. Promise me you won’t,” she asks in a hoarse whisper.

“I won’t,” Jemma replies tearfully, nodding. By now, Coulson is at May’s side, holding her hand as she fades in and out of consciousness. Her breathing is gradually slowing, and her pulse is growing weaker. The whole team has formed a loose circle around her; Fitz has his arm around Daisy’s shoulder, the both of them watching Jemma work. Lance and Bobbi are tightly holding hands, both thinking that this could have been Bobbi had she not gotten back to the base as soon as she did after she’d been shot.

May’s whisper startles them all. “You all are the best team I could’ve asked for. You’ve become my family. Fitz, Simmons, Daisy: you three have become my adoptive children, even if you’re all adults. Hunter and Bobbi: again, you’re one of my adult adoptive children, even if I was ticked off at Hunter most of the time.” At this, everyone laughs a little, teary-eyed. “And Coulson? Thanks for being the best partner anyone could ask for.” She sighs. “Could everyone but Coulson go away for a second?”

They did as she asked. She leaned in and, with her last breath, whispered, “Phil, I’m letting the girl go. Do good, and keep our team safe.”


End file.
